Repertoire › Appassionato › What to play next
What to play after Appassionato ?
Anton Oudshoorn · difficulty 56/100

Choose your level of commitment: consolidate, move up a tier or prepare a challenge. The top-ranked cards combine difficulty, risk, shared skills and confidence.

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Gentle step

The safest next step.

Gentle
Cello Sonata no. 2 in F major, op. 123
Camille Saint-Saëns
61/100 +5 pts 6-12 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Intermediate (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Connaissance des formes and Doigté complexe — understand the form and the harmony before memorising, or memory collapses the moment you play for someone.
Gentle
Amusement des amateurs en forme de nocturnes
Bernhard Romberg
62/100 +6 pts 6-12 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Intermediate (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Voix chantante and Legato d'archet (violoncelle) — the notes will be secure long before the musical line: work in whole phrases, singing the main voice.
Gentle
Cello Sonata no. 1, op. 45
Felix Mendelssohn
60/100 +4 pts 5-10 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Intermediate (around grade 6 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Connaissance des formes and Intonation (violoncelle) — understand the form and the harmony before memorising, or memory collapses the moment you play for someone.
Gentle
Sérénade in B minor, for cello and piano, op. 98
Gabriel Fauré
59/100 +3 pts 5-10 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Intermediate (around grade 6 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Voix chantante and Vibrato (violoncelle) — the notes will be secure long before the musical line: work in whole phrases, singing the main voice.
Gentle
Elegy for Cello and Piano in D flat major, op. 17, "Une pensée à Liszt"
Alexander Glazunov
63/100 +7 pts 6-12 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Intermediate (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Voix chantante and Vibrato (violoncelle) — the notes will be secure long before the musical line: work in whole phrases, singing the main voice.
Balanced step

A genuine step up, without a jolt.

Balanced
Caprice and Elegy
Frederick Delius
66/100 +10 pts 12-24 weeks
close skills moderate risk to confirm
A real step up: this piece moves you into Advanced (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM). The skill that will carry the work: Legato d'archet (violoncelle) and Vibrato (violoncelle) — practise it slowly, separating left hand from bow: bow alone on open strings, then the fingering silently.
Balanced
Cello Sonata no. 2, op. 58
Felix Mendelssohn
69/100 +13 pts 12-24 weeks
partial transfer moderate risk to confirm
A real step up: this piece moves you into Advanced (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Connaissance des formes and Intonation (violoncelle) — understand the form and the harmony before memorising, or memory collapses the moment you play for someone.
Balanced
Cello Sonata no. 2 in G minor, op. 117
Gabriel Fauré
64/100 +8 pts 12-24 weeks
partial transfer moderate risk to confirm
A real step up, staying in Intermediate (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Connaissance des formes and Changements de position (violoncelle) — understand the form and the harmony before memorising, or memory collapses the moment you play for someone.
Balanced
Cello Sonata in F major, op. 6, TrV115
Richard Strauss
70/100 +14 pts 12-24 weeks
close skills moderate risk to confirm
A real step up: this piece moves you into Advanced (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Connaissance des formes and Doigté complexe — understand the form and the harmony before memorising, or memory collapses the moment you play for someone.
Ambitious challenge

A useful leap with guided practice.

Challenge
Cello Sonata no. 3 in A major, op. 69
Ludwig van Beethoven
73/100 +17 pts 28-56 weeks
partial transfer high risk to confirm
An ambitious leap into Advanced (around grade 8 ABRSM/RCM) — only worth starting if the practice time is really there. New compared with the previous piece: Connaissance des formes and Style classique — understand the form and the harmony before memorising, or memory collapses the moment you play for someone.
Challenge
Cello Sonata no. 4 in C major, op. 102, no. 1
Ludwig van Beethoven
73/100 +17 pts 28-56 weeks
partial transfer high risk to confirm
An ambitious leap into Advanced (around grade 8 ABRSM/RCM) — only worth starting if the practice time is really there. New compared with the previous piece: Connaissance des formes and Style classique — understand the form and the harmony before memorising, or memory collapses the moment you play for someone.
Challenge
Cello Sonata in G minor, op. 65
Frédéric Chopin
77/100 +21 pts 28-56 weeks
partial transfer high risk to confirm
An ambitious leap into Advanced (around grade 8 ABRSM/RCM) — only worth starting if the practice time is really there. New compared with the previous piece: Connaissance des formes and Changements de position (violoncelle) — understand the form and the harmony before memorising, or memory collapses the moment you play for someone.
Same level

To widen the repertoire without raising the level.

Same level
Cello Sonata No. 1
Ludwig van Beethoven
57/100 +1 pts 4-6 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
Equivalent demands, still Intermediate (around grade 6 ABRSM/RCM): what changes is the ground. What changes is the skill in play: Style classique — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Same level
Cello Sonata no. 1 in C minor, op. 32
Camille Saint-Saëns
58/100 +2 pts 4-6 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
Equivalent demands, still Intermediate (around grade 6 ABRSM/RCM): what changes is the ground. What changes is the skill in play: Connaissance des formes and Doigté complexe — understand the form and the harmony before memorising, or memory collapses the moment you play for someone.
Same level
Cello Sonata in B flat major, G.565
Luigi Boccherini
53/100 -3 pts 4-6 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
Equivalent demands, still Intermediate (around grade 6 ABRSM/RCM): what changes is the ground. What changes is the skill in play: Connaissance des formes and Style classique — understand the form and the harmony before memorising, or memory collapses the moment you play for someone.
Progressions computed from difficulty, skill overlap and style between works. A What do we play next? recommendation should remain a pedagogical starting point, not an automatic prescription.